


Oh, Christmas Tree

by H_W_Star



Category: Blood Bank (Webcomic)
Genre: Christmas fic, Christmas in the City, Cute, First Christmas, He's adorable, Human Eric, M/M, One Shot, Shell in a santa hat, Sweet, human Shell, modern day AU, tree decorating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 23:25:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13041702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H_W_Star/pseuds/H_W_Star
Summary: (Guess who's bad at titles)Shell and Eric pick out and decorate a Christmas tree for their apartment.





	Oh, Christmas Tree

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on break from college, so have a Christmas Blood Bank fic :)  
> I couldn't resist writing some kind of Blood Bank + Christmas story with the boys, so here is the product of my weak will. Also, I decided to give names (and slight personalities?) to three of Shell's brothers, just on a whim; they're only in there for a few sentences though so don't worry  
> [I'm really suffering with no new Blood Bank content]  
> Neither of these two adorable gay boys belongs to me, all ownership goes to Silb  
> Thanks for stopping by for a read, hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays in advance! :)

                Shell was staring out the window, eyes glued to the flurry of snowflakes whirling about just beyond the glass pane. He had been playing a sort of game for the past few minutes, in which he would try to track certain crystals of snow on their way to the ground, though he would always lose sight of them amongst the millions of others being blown about. With each failed attempt, his determination and will to follow at least one successfully increased tenfold.

                This was the scene Eric was presented with as he walked out from the hallway in their apartment. He saw the blonde with his face smushed against the window, brow furrowed in deep concentration on something, and to top it all off (literally), a Santa hat on his head. Eric had gotten it for him as a gag, but it had kind of backfired as the blonde wouldn’t take it off; Eric once even had to stop him from wearing it to work. He secretly feared the possibility of Shell wanting to wear it during sex; the hat was adorable, he had to admit that, but Eric certainly wouldn’t be able to take his boyfriend seriously enough in it to actually _do_ anything. It would likely result in Eric hunched over in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Some holiday-themed lingerie, on the other hand…

                At the sound of footsteps behind him Shell turned; although that required rather painfully detaching his cheek from the frosted window in order to do so. He saw Eric standing in the entrance to the hallway, dressed in a dark blue turtleneck sweater and black pants. He looked very handsome…and unimpressed with the slight red welt beginning to form on Shell’s cheek from his previous activity.

                “Eric, it’s snowing!” Shell exclaimed this helpful fact with the greatest enthusiasm. Eric nodded with raised eyebrows.

                “Yep. I did actually catch that from the roughly twelve-hundred times you told me this morning.”

                Straightening the ridiculous hat, Shell responded indignantly, “Okay, well, you weren’t getting up so I decided to get creative.”

                Eric _hmph_ ed a laugh with a good-natured shake of his head and his arms came around Shell’s waist. Instinctively, the blonde snuggled closer into his boyfriend’s embrace, enjoying the warmth and protection offered in it. Eric’s chin resting on top of Shell’s head, they stayed like that for a little while in comfortable silence staring out at the small flakes floating around the city outside.

                From atop Shell’s head (and, consequently, from atop the Santa hat) Eric said after a while, “Why don’t we go get a tree today?”

                Shell’s eyes widened and he turned around in Eric’s arms, staring up at him in what might have been disbelief. “A tree? Like a Christmas tree, to decorate and put lights on and stuff?”

                Eric nodded.

                Early in their relationship, when they were both getting to know each other more, they had discovered that both of their families never really celebrated Christmas. Shell’s father, as head of the major company that Shell himself was now partially in charge of, was always called away to business and hardly ever spent much time with his family. His mother was similarly occupied. Shell had brothers, too, but they were either perpetually disinterested or, when they became old enough, stayed at college over the holidays. Three of Shell’s brothers—Airen, Silas, and Silenius—had gone off to the same university, and the only attempt at any kind of holiday tradition Shell had ever seen from them was a few years ago, when he happened upon their rendition of a holiday card. It was a poorly graphically-designed square of cardstock showing Airen in the middle, coiffed blonde hair and neon green eyes (in Eric’s opinion, the picture of a giant douche) flanked by the equally blonde, pony-tailed Silas and an unimpressed Silenius, all rather drunk. Eric had pointed out how different Silenius—the oldest of all the Overlord children—looked from the others, with his long dark brown hair in a ponytail that fell over his left shoulder, and harsh dark eyes. Shell answered that he was the one who most resembled their mother, and as such sided with her a lot in familial disputes. He was even reluctant to admit he had their father’s facial structure, Shell had said. Thus Shell had grown up in a family that didn’t really care much for the holidays, and therefore was a bit of a stranger to any traditions that usually came along with that time of year.

                Eric wasn’t much different. Although when he was very young his family had celebrated Christmas happily, following his mother’s death things changed. It wasn’t as if his father had avoided him, but in order to provide for Eric he had to throw himself deeper into his work and thus couldn’t be at home much of the time. Eric was therefore left alone at home for the majority of the holiday season, and his father never had the time to do very much with him. Both he and Shell hadn’t had a childhood of Christmas traditions, so in a way this was very much their first ‘official’ Christmas; because of that, they were determined to do what they could. Christmas in the city also did its fair share of exposing them to the holiday musts; they had tackled making snowmen, which ultimately resulted in them decapitating their poor misshapen creations to use for a brutal and merciless snowball fight that both attracted other residents of their complex and left everyone sodden in the aftermath. They had tried their hands—or rather, feet, really—at ice skating, which Eric turned out to be a born natural at, although the same could not be said of Shell. The poor blonde ended up slipping and stumbling all over the ice, and falling on his ass more than a few times. But luckily for him Shell had a very nice boyfriend who glided over to aid him in his hour of need. Thus far, it had been fantastic spending the Christmas season in each other’s presence. It had actually been Eric’s idea to get a tree, and Shell’s face had lit up at the suggestion. Despite the space limitations their apartment presented, Eric wanted to show his boyfriend the real thing instead of just what he had seen from pictures and articles in magazines. He also thought it would be a good idea to get a live one, so the apartment could be suffused with the fresh scent of balsam. Eric himself vaguely remembered decorating one with his father once, but Shell had never even done as much as that.

                Thus was the explanation as to why the blonde was currently bouncing up and down in Eric’s arms, nearly sparkling with excitement.

                “Alright, let’s go then,” Eric said with an amused laugh, to which Shell responded they could take his car.

                “You mean you _don’t_ want to be covered in snow on my motorcycle?” Eric inquired as they were taking the elevator down to the car lot.

                “You mean do I want to reenact the _very_ damp aftermath of our time in the snow the other day? No, not quite.”

                “Come on, don’t act like you didn’t have fun,” Eric said, pulling his boyfriend closer into an impromptu hug. Shell giggled, and stretched up to kiss Eric’s nose.

                “I did, but I don’t like being wet.” At this, Eric smirked, prompting Shell to punch him lightly in the arm, but by that time they had reached the car and they both quickly entered the vehicle in favor of escaping the brisk cold of the lot. Shell had exchanged the Santa hat (by Eric’s request) for a normal winter hat that he ended up taking off anyway. The tree farm was not too far away, so the ride was short, but it still provided a lot of time for gazing out at the city in snow. It was some of the most beautiful scenery either of the two had seen.

                Once they had arrived, Eric got to witness firsthand just how indecisive his boyfriend could truly be. Though it was less indecisiveness and more overwhelming excitement Shell was dealing with; flitting around from tree to tree, intriguingly examining each one only to be distracted by another, he was like a giddy child. Eric didn’t mind the endearing scene in the least. Finally, Shell decided on the one, and called Eric over for approval. It was a relatively small pine, about five feet tall, and a little plump. Eric thought it was very fitting, and after paying for it and gingerly strapping it to the car’s roof, they drove home. The entire way Eric had to constantly reassure Shell that the tree would not, in fact, go flying off the roof if he dared to go over thirty. However, Shell did not take his word for it and kept at his significantly-under-the-limit speed. When Shell didn’t take the turn for their apartment, Eric gave him a quizzical look.

                “We have to get ornaments and lights, don’t we?” Shell said.

                “Oh, right.” Eric was surprised he forgot, but Shell didn’t seem to mind. The blonde just went on a tangent about all the different kinds of ornaments they could buy, as finances weren’t really an obstacle, and it was true; they both had very steady jobs that paid well. Eric felt a small flutter of excitement in his stomach at the prospect of making something so personal with Shell. It was likely a silly, small thing in other people’s eyes, but both of them were pretty much new to this tradition, which made it a lot more meaningful.

                They arrived at a popular plaza near the heart of the shopping district, and Eric prepared himself to watch a scene similar to the one that transpired at the tree farm. Instead Shell took his hand while declaring they should do it together, and they walked inside. They bought a few generic spherical ornaments, some white lights, and these strange white beads that Shell found he really liked to play with. They bought some intricate glass ornaments, a fair amount of tacky ones (because they couldn’t resist), and a few they found sentimental value in. They made stupid puns, gave wildly out-of-character voices to different figurines, and ended up having an incredibly great time. They left with an entire shopping cart full of bags, a haul which they both approved of. They unloaded the ornaments into the car with the same care they applied to the tree, and—although it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise—if it was possible Shell drove even slower after the addition of the new precious cargo. While this did result in the ride home becoming twice as long, when they finally returned to their apartment Shell was buzzing with excitement. Eric could almost feel it coming off his boyfriend in waves. It took a few trips for them to unload everything, but they eventually did succeed in transporting it all up to their apartment. Putting on some cheesy Christmas music in the background, the two got to work.

                It was not as they had read in the countless articles about tree-decorating. The tree fell on them several times, claiming Shell as its victim plenty more times than it did Eric, but the two laughed about it the same amount. Eric nearly dropped several of the circular ornaments, earning a few looks from Shell that showed the blonde was starting to question his competency for the task. Their apartment echoed with laughter, various holiday jingles, and, despite Eric’s best efforts, a few shattering sounds. Sometime along the process Eric started quickly pecking Shell on the cheek whenever he had to stretch to put an ornament on the tree’s loftier branches. Once or twice Shell would turn to catch Eric’s lips with his own, and the two would be temporarily deterred from the decorating. By the time they were nearing the end of the ornament supply, Eric reached into a separate bag and brought out something wrapped in many layers of tissue paper. Shell cocked his head to the side in question, but Eric didn’t say anything until the object was completely unwrapped. It was revealed to be a blown-glass white rose ornament, which caught the glow of the lights perfectly and shone a brilliant silver-white.

                “I bought this when you were looking at those creepy Santa ornaments…I’m really glad we didn’t get those.” They both slightly shivered at the memory of some ornaments of Santa they had seen that were particularly unsettling.

                “But I saw this for you,” Eric continued softly, “and thought it was pretty fitting.” Shell stared at the fragile piece of glass, captivated by its beauty, before responding.

                “Eric, it’s…” Shell just shook his head. “It’s beautiful.”

                “So, you like it?”

                Shell nodded, and stood on his toes to press his lips gently to Eric’s. His boyfriend’s arms came around his waist and held him in a firm, protective embrace as his tongue slipped past Shell’s lips. They stayed like that for a while, kissing in the glow of the tree they had decorated together. When they finally parted, Shell picked up the delicate ornament, and placed it on the topmost branch (with a fair amount of stretching). As he stood back to take a look at their work, an arm wrapped around his torso, and Shell tucked his head into Eric’s shoulder.

                After pressing a quick kiss to the crown of Shell’s head, Eric murmured, “Merry Christmas, Shell.”

                Shell snuggled in closer. “Merry Christmas, Eric. Let’s do a lot more of this soon.”

                “Of course.”


End file.
